Austrian units of measurement were used in Austria until the adoption of the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...

History

In 1756, the ruling Archduchess of Austria,

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

, ordered that the Viennese ''

klafter The ''klafter'' is an historical unit of length, volume and area that was used in Central Europe. Unit of length As a unit of length, the ''klafter'' was derived from the span of a man's outstretched arms and was traditionally about 1.80 metr ...

'' as well as its multiples and fractions, should be the state-defined measure of length in the Archduchy of Austria and the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. The Viennese cubit, that is 1 of the Roman

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding No ...

(cubitus or elbow), was also used as a measure of length. The law should also have applied to the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...

, of which Maria Theresa was queen. However, the traditional Roman foot remained in common use in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. When the metric system was introduced by law on 23 July 1871 (which became obligatory on 1 January 1876), History of the metric system#The German Zollverein the length of the ''klafter'' (kl) was established as exactly 1.89648384 metres.

Measures

Austrian post-mile, police-mile, geographic mile = 3,910 Viennese ''

s''.

References

*''The information in this article is based on that in its German equivalent''. Systems of units

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

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